


Fictober20

by Aditu



Category: Defense of the Ancients | Dota, Dota 2
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fictober 2020, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:48:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28606239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aditu/pseuds/Aditu
Summary: Dota Fanfiction for the Fictober Event 2020
Kudos: 3





	1. day 1

"No, come back!" Of course the stupid mage didn't listen to the Drow Ranger and she rolled her eyes. He thought himself invincible and acted accordingly. Which had almost gotten him killed several times now and the Drow really didn't want to babysit him anymore. Especially since she was in the same danger, when she trailed him. But together they had at least a chance of survival.

"Why can't you listen to me for once?" Annoyed at having to run to catch up with him, the Drow kicked at a branch in front of her. It didn't fly away, but instead bounced back and hit her in the shin. "Oi, fucker", she breathed.

The mage used his haughtiest look, his chin raised, down his nose, not even bothering to turn his head all the way. "I am the mightiest of all mages. I go where I want to. And stop insulting me, or I'll hex you."

The Drow Ranger opened her mouth to say she'd talked to the stick, then closed it because it would sound as if she were dumb. Besides, she knew that it was an empty threat, they were allies, the mage wasn't able to hex his allies. She understood the meaning behind it well enough, though, and she also saw that because of his arrogance he'd never back down. With a sigh, she resigned and accepted her fate.

"If you follow me around like a stray dog, at least try to be helpful and watch out for threats." The mage didn't even look at her as he talked this time. Instead his gaze was focussed on the forest in front of him, while the colourful orbs he used for his magic and that circled around his head changed from blue and yellow to pink.

"Don't you think you are a little… conspicuous with all that?" She waved her hand, indicating all of the mage. The orbs, which glowed softly in the shadows of the trees surrounding them, as well as his white and golden robes, with so much layers of cloth, they made him appear twice his size. Not that he was small to begin with, he was at least a head taller than the Drow, even without the clothes.

The look he levelled at her was freezing in its cold intensity. "I'm the Invoker, everyone should fear my might. When they look at me, they shall recognize my grandness."

For a long moment, she stared at the mage, then she turned away from him. "Crazy fucker." This time she made sure he didn't hear her. She didn't leave, though, because they were in enemy territory and at least the mage was skilled. No matter how arrogant, she was now safer with him than alone. And with another sigh, she scanned their surroundings, searching for threats as the mage kept walking.


	2. day 2

"That's the easy part."

"The what?" Mortred stared with wide eyes. "It'll get worse?" They had just unravelled the cords of fairy lights for what had felt like an eternity, really trying her patience.

Abaddon laughed. "Not worse. Just less easy." He pointed to the top of the giant Christmas Tree. "We'll have to get decorations up there, especially the tree top."

Eyes still wide, she looked up to the top. Then her gaze turned calculating. "No challenge. I'll just sit on your shoulders. That way we are tall enough."

And they were. Mortred decorated the tree from Abaddon's shoulders without fear or hesitation. Only when he handed her the tree top ornament did she pause. "Really?" She held it down in front of his face. "Your horse?"

When he shrugged, Mortred hobbled on his shoulders. "I like my horse so I thought it was nice to have an ornament of him."

"On a Christmas Tree?"

"Why not."

With a sigh, Mortred stretched and put the horse onto the top of the tree. It was the last decoration and she hopped from Abaddon's shoulders afterwards. He put an arm around her waist and together they looked at the tree.

"It's perfect." Abaddon commented contentedly.

"I'm not entirely sure. It has a horse as tree top." But Mortred smiled as she said it. The tree looked wonderful, even with the horse. And decorating it together had been a really nice experience. "It wasn't as bad as I had expected. The decorating. It was rather decent."

Abaddon laughed and kissed her on the temple.


	3. day 3

"You did this?" Mars, the First Son of Heaven, stared disbelieving at the dozen or so frozen creatures in front of him.

"Why? Don't I look like I'd be capable of that?" The Crystal Maiden floated a foot above the ground, her staff in hand. She had done that, had frozen them all into solid blocks of ice.

"Well," the First Son of Heaven turned towards her and crossed his massive arms in front of his chest. "actually you don't, no." He towered above her even though she was floating above the ground, but Rylai was not intimidated by his height.

She laughed and spun in a circle once, swinging her staff with the movement and creating tiny snowflakes in it's wake. "Should I show you? I could freeze you, so you can experience first-hand what I am capable of." She winked at him, though she could and would freeze him, if he was an arse.

He seemed to believe her enough, though, because he raised his hands in a sign of surrender. "No thanks. I'm fine. I was just surprised." Then he grinned. "I guess I should keep you close by my side, with these mad skills of yours."

"And what," the Maiden leaned close to him, her clear blue eyes wide, "do I get out of it?"

That was the clue for Mars to show off his own qualifications. He pulled a huge shield forward, almost big enough to hide his whole body behind it and definitely big enough to hide at least two of the Crystal Maiden, and a matching spear. His muscles flexed as he did so. "You get my mad skills in close combat, my shield to protect you and my spear to slay anyone that escapes your magic and comes too close." His grin got wider, sharp teeth bright against his dark skin. He looked crazy and dangerous, much to Rylai's delight.

"Deal." She held her hand out and Mars took it, completely engulfing it in his huge paws. She was grinning, too, though she suspected she didn't appear as crazy as the warrior in front of her.

"Deal." He answered.


	4. day 6

"That was impressive." As Rylai looked up at him with wonder, Sven blushed. And was glad for the helmet that hid the colour on his cheeks.

"Thanks." He mumbled, clearly uncomfortable with the praise.

At the soft laugh that followed the statement, he blushed even more, his heartbeat accelerating. The mage was so beautiful, her blond hair flowing around her shoulders and her eyes bright as she smiled at him.

"I was just lucky." He hadn't been, he actually was this good, but he didn't want to seem like an arrogant prick in front of Rylai.

She shook her head, blond locks flying. "Don't be so modest. I know it wasn't luck." Still smiling, she leaned up and hugged him.

Sven swore he could feel her touch through his armour, even though it was absolutely impossible, and his heart was beating like crazy now.

"Come on, let's see if you are able to be this lucky again." She winked and actually took his hand to pull him with her as she continued forward.

Too overwhelmed by the interaction, he followed without a thought. She'd have never been able to pull him forward, but he'd follow her anywhere. She was like the sun, bright and warm and the most important thing in his world.


	5. day 7

"Yes I did, what about it?"

"You can't just eat a whole cake!"

Jah'rakal looked at the empty plate on the counter, only a few crumbs hinting at there having been a cake, then back up at Lyralei. "Well, obviously I can."

Lyralei groaned and buried her face in her hands. "But why?"

A shrug from the troll. "It tasted good." That was enough of a reason in his opinion. He hadn't been that hungry but as soon as he had eaten the first piece, he hadn't wanted to stop.

"But a whole cake!"

Now Jah'rakal laughed and shook his head. "Oh come on, you said I could eat it. And it was delicious." He smiled. "Isn't that a good thing? That I liked you cake? I did leave a piece for you." Now he grinned. "I just hid it so I wouldn't accidentally eat it, too." He pointed to a cabinet behind Lyralei. "It's up there."

"It was huge!"

"The cake? Yes, and I'm really full now." He leaned down to the still flustered Lyralei and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks for making it."


	6. day 5

"Unacceptable, try again."

The Shadow Priest groaned. "Please, no. I'm finished for today."

But, not that he had expected any different, the Legion Commander wasn't moved by his pleading. "Look at this. It resembles a small heap of dirt!" She crossed her arms in front of her chest and even though she was wearing the most ridiculous pullover the Priest had ever seen, she was able to appear threatening. Well, he was wearing a Christmas pullover, too, but he'd never claim to appear threatening, not even without it.

"Tresdin, this is supposed to be fun! Not some kind of training camp." He was definitely whining by now, but they had been going all day.

"Dazzle." She imitated his tone while saying his name. But her next words were sharp as always. "You said we'll bake Christmas Cookies. They are for Christmas. So they have to be perfect. Does this look remotely like a perfect cookie to you?" She pointed at said cookie. Dazzle had to admit it was anything but perfect. It really was a small heap of dirt. He grimaced.

"You are right." He sighed. "But can we please continue tomorrow? It has been a long day."

She actually seemed to think about it. Then she shook her head. "One run. What did I do wrong?"

It had been Dazzle's idea to make cookies and since Tresdin had never in her whole life baked anything at all, she had wanted him to teach her. The problem was, she was an exceptionally bad student. She might listen but then, as soon as the Shadow Priest turned around, she did whatever she wanted or thought was right. Which wasn't a very good idea when one had no understanding of the concept of baking. "Whatever you made different than what I told you to do. That is what you made wrong."

"You said creativity while baking was fine."

Dazzle looked at the cookies on the counter, then at his girlfriend. "Forget I said that. It obviously doesn't apply to you." He tried to keep his features and his tone as neutral as possible.

Nonetheless, the Legion Commander spread her hands and roared. "Why is this not as easy as fighting?" The statement made the Shadow Priest roll his eyes before he tried to soothe her.

"One can't be perfect in everything. You are perfect in fighting, if you were perfect in baking cookies that would be unfair to all the other creature, don't you think?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You are making fun of me." It wasn't even a question. "Okay. We try this once more, and I'll stick exactly to your instructions." Before Dazzle could say anything, she pointed a finger at him and snapped: "Stop whining! Once more." And turned towards the counter where the ingredients stood, leaving Dazzle not much choice than to support her if he didn't want the kitchen to burn down should she attempt to try it on her own. Though it had been a long day, he smiled as he did so, because it was still fun to make cookies. And it was fun to make them with Tresdin. Besides, he hadn't wanted to whine, it wasn't as if he had never before been standing in his kitchen for a whole day.

He decided to annoy her a little and popped a chocolate drop into his mouth. She hated when he did that, because he was supposed to concentrate and not dally around with other things, like eating. And she feared that he'd eat all the ingredients and leave nothing for the cookies. He laughed when the Commander shot him a dark look. "Relax, I have bought tons of them, I can eat as many as I want and we'll still have enough for the baking." He hadn't bought this many because he liked to nibble them alongside, though he had planned for that, too. Instead he had fully expected that they'd need a few tries for Tresdin to get this right and had wanted to be prepared. No need to tell her that, though. Grinning, he ate another one before actually helping Tresdin.

This last round of cookies actually came out perfect, Tresdin had stuck to the instrutions and Dazzle had kept an eye on her all the time. No matter how much he liked baking, it was getting dark outside and he was ready for the couch. Or a bath. Or both. So he had concentrated instead of eating and Tresdin had concentrated instead of being creative. Both grinning at each other over the warm cookies they had just taken out of the oven, Tresdin nodded. "Thanks. Now, what does one do after baking?"

Dazzle looked at the kitchen. "I'd say, cleaning up."

This time it was Tresdin's turn to whine. "Must we?"

With a laugh, the Shadow Priest pulled his pullover over the head. "Let's take the cookies with us to the couch and eat them while we cuddle."

"No." She pointed a finger at him. "They are for Christmas." Her eyes narrowed. "Keep your hands off them. If you had wanted cookies for today, you'd have had to make some."

"Then we'll just take the remaining chocolate drops." With a shrug, pullover thrown over one shoulder, he took the drops with one hand and Tresdin's hand with the other. "Come."


	7. day 9

"Will you look at this?" Kaolin the Earth Spirit crouched down on the beach to get a better look at whatever he had found.

Raijin the Storm Spirit didn't move one muscle. He was lying on a mat in the sun, naked except for bathing shorts and a hat that covered his face so the sun wouldn't hurt his eyes. "It's beautiful." From his tone alone, one wouldn't have guessed that he hadn't bothered to look, it sounded as if he truly meant it.

With a laugh, Xin the Ember Spirit walked past him and though he was itching to annoy Storm while he was chilling, he refrained from doing so. It wasn't often that his boyfriend took time to relax, and it was a good thing that he did so for once. He looked at what Kaolin had found. It was a shell, but while they both stared at it, legs emerged from the shell, then a head with two pincers. "Oh, a hermit crab!"

"It has found itself a very beautiful home." Kaolin smiled up at Xin. "Did you know that hermit crabs have adapted to inhabit empty shells? To protect their abdominal exoskeleton, because it is non-calcified. They must seek shelter produced by other organisms, otherwise they are defenceless."

"No I didn't." For a moment, they smiled at each other, then Kaolin stood up.

He liked to walk up and down the beach and look at stones, shells and whatever creatures he found. But it was more something one did while being alone. Since they were here all three, he wanted to do something together with his boyfriends. Or rather, with one of them, Raijin probably wouldn't get up anytime soon. "Want to get into the water? Didn't we take a ball?"

Only a second later, Xin had a ball in his hands, his grin lighting up his face. It was fascinating that he liked water, since he was a spirit of flames. But he did and so the two waded into the waves while Raijin stayed on the beach.

The Storm Spirit turned his head, though, and watched his two boyfriends playing in the ocean with a kind of lazy delight. They were hot, he thought, and after he had watched for a while, he decided to join them.


	8. day 11

"I told you so." Rhasta began to dance. "I told you so, I... I... I told you so." His voice was annoying as fuck and his dance was embarrassing, bordering on mortifying.

Medusa groaned. "Please stop it. I admit it, you were right."

The Shadow Shaman actually stopped, grinning from ear to ear. "Say that again."

"Please stop it."

"Ah ah, you know what I want to hear." He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I can keep singing the whoooole day loooooong."

Another groan because she knew that he could. And would. "You were right."

Rhasta laughed, threw his hands forward, and kissed the Gorgon on the mouth. There was nothing romantic about that kiss, it was hard but short, and he made this annoying kissing sound meanwhile. He winked when he released Medusa. "You'll learn eventually that I'm always right."

Then he sauntered away. Medusa was left standing there, strangely not annoyed anymore. She told herself it was because he had stopped singing and dancing.

But she knew it was because of the kiss, no matter how sloppy it had been. It was because the tiny Shaman didn't fear her, ever, and that he felt comfortable enough around her to be his ever annoying self. She almost smiled, at least she told herself it was only almost. And no one daring enough to look at her would've called the lifting of the corners of her mouth a smile.


	9. day 14

"You'd better leave now." Shendel took a step back, away from Dragonus. The way he was looking at her, as if she was the most precious thing in the world, made her uncomfortable. Because it made her want more, more of this man who might be so very nice and lovely and beautiful, but was beneath her and therefore not worth her notice. He might be a mage of the royal court, but she was the princess.

"What?" He snapped back to the here and now with a slight start, out of whatever had been going through his head. He realized how close they had been standing, the way he had been leaning towards Shendel, and straightened. "Apologies, my mind slipped elsewhere." He bowed slightly. "I will fetch you later, on the way to dinner?"

It had become some kind of routine, him coming by her room on his way to the hall.

With a smile, she nodded, pushing all improper thoughts about the most beautiful of all skywraths out of her mind. She almost succeeded. What remained, no matter how hard she tried, was a faint tingling in her fingertips, as if she had actually touched him instead of only imagining it. She took another step backwards, until he was out of reach should her treacherous body decide to ignore her logical mind.

His gaze lingered on her and he hesitated for a second. As if he wanted to say more, or as if he just wanted to look at her for a while longer. With another bow and a smile, he left.

Shendel breathed deep for a few moments, closing her eyes and trying to think of anything but Dragonus. He was so wonderful, she wanted to spend every minute of every day with him. But she couldn't. And so she forced her thoughts to other things.


	10. day 12 (Silencer / Invoker)

"Watch me." The Silencer bared his teeth at the injured Invoker before walking towards the enemy.

Kael tried to grab him, but he was too slow, his hand only moving through empty air. "You can't, you are…" he wanted to say 'too weak', but that would be an insult that wouldn't be the truth. Nortrom wasn't weak, but he was "… alone against them."

It didn't make the man stop. He was determined, as always, goal in mind and not wavering from it. This time it was laced with the desperate need to protect the Invoker, who was injured from the fight the Silencer was heading into. He would never back down, they both knew it. He was too stubborn, so Kael tried to get up, to be at least of some help there.

The first arrow flew through the air towards Nortrom, who saw it coming and lifted his shield until his body was almost completely hidden behind it. Another two followed, but he was able to deflect them all. He had his weapon, his glaive, raised, ready to attack. His stance was firm and sure, he didn't even sway when the arrows hit his shield. He was strong, but the enemy numbers were too high. At least that was what Kael thought.

The mage had fought and when he had been sure he wouldn't be able to win, he had tried to retreat. He hadn't gotten far, too heavily injured, before the Silencer had found him. It was clear that they had no chance of escaping the enemy on his heels, so the man had decided to fight, until his last breath, to give the Invoker a chance to survive.

It didn't matter that he stood alone against an unknown number of enemies, he'd not let Kael die. Or die himself in the attempt to protect him. Not that Kael would act differently should their roles be reversed.

Three creatures burst out of the forest and fanned out, two less than there had been before, in the fight the Invoker had done alone. They took a moment to assess the situation and the Silencer used this time to attack. He cast a spell a second before be launched his first physical attack, throwing his glaive at the enemy who appeared to be the weakest. His glaive was enchanted and it cut deep as it hit.

The other two didn't bother to look at their now wounded ally, they charged. Nortrom widened his stance, ready to block one with the shield and attack the other with the glaive. Before they were near enough for the Silencer to do either, he could feel magic building behind him. Fire burst from the sky, hitting both enemies since they had been standing too close together.

Kael had been able to gather enough energy to cast a spell and Nortrom didn't waste time to check on him. If he was strong enough to use magic, he was doing okay for now. Instead, he went into the offensive. Another spell, glaive, spell, glaive. One enemy down, then the second. With grim determination, the Silencer turned towards the third. Who, realizing that they had lost though they had been three against one and a half, grimaced and fled.

Nortrom was breathing heavily, he had received some injuries during the fight and he had given it his all. It had been rather short but he was drained nonetheless. After a moment to take a deep breath, he straightened and turned towards Kael. The mage was standing. He leaned against a tree, but it was better than lying on the ground. The Silencer couldn't help it, he smiled.

He got no smile in return, but a scowl. "You shouldn't have done that. It could've just cost us both our lives."

"It wouldn't have," Nortrom raised one brow, "if you had fled instead of staying to watch." Of course he knew that the Invoker hadn't truly been able to flee and he also knew that he had done more than merely watching. But the taunt worked.

Scowl deepening, Kael pushed away from the tree and walked forward. His eyes narrowed. "I watched?" His anger at the blatant disregard of him having helped with his magic made him forget his injuries. Nortrom wanted to grin but he had perfected a neutral expression over the years, no matter what. Not that it helped him much with Kael, the mage was able to see through it anyway.

When he stood in front of the Silencer, he shook his head. "I know what you are doing."

Nortrom shrugged. "It is working, though."

"Thank you." Kael murmured before he leaned down to kiss Nortrom.

"Anytime."


End file.
